Lost Memories
by XxMiScHiEVoUsKiTtYxX
Summary: After Amy is struck by one of Doctor Eggman's machines, she experiences a quite unusual side-effect: permanent amnesia. With only the memories of her childhood and surprisingly trusts ONLY the Ultimate Life-form, everyone (Meaning Tails) is desperately trying to find out an antidote to regain her lost memories and keep it from getting worse... First story, enjoy;)!
1. The incident

It was a clear and sunny January day in the city, not too hot nor too cold, with a soft breeze blowing every once in awhile uncommon for the season. Most would consider this a normal spring-like day, but to a cheerful rosy, pink hedgehog, today was a BEAUTIFUL day. A day that just couldn't go to waste! The female woke up in a wonderful mood, and without a second to waste, she got ready and sped off to spend the day with all her close friends, maybe even get that sour red-striped hedgehog to enjoy the great day. She quickly got a snack, kissed an old picture containing two grown hedgehogs, and ran out the door in full speed. As the young female hedgehog strolled through the city, with her mood high above the clouds, and her concentration on displaying jewelry, she heard a sudden, but distant, explosion. Her mood suddenly fell, but not completely..

_'Just ignore it Amy... Just ignore it... The boys have it all under control, they can handle it by themselves...' _She told herself trying to regain her cheerful mood, '_...Besides, it's such a beautiful day, it'd be a waste if I...' _Her mood instantly crashed as she heard a louder explosion with people running at her direction and a nearby television broadcasting a Breaking News segment on the explosion. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a flying old man in a bright red jumpsuit. '_Well that's fucking great!' _She quickly summoned out her hammer and stomped her feet on the concrete floor as she walked in annoyance to the location of the earlier explosions. She mumbled and cursed the whole five blocks until she was delayed by a forest on the edge of the chaos. 'Of course_! Just what I needed!' _When she finally emerged out of the small forest to a wide clearing surrounded by trees, she saw three figures fighting a horde of dog-shaped robots with huge jaws. Ofcourse the Blue blur was present, his loyal fox friend not far from his side, and surprisingly enough the Ultimate Life-form was there too. An odd combination if you'd ask her, but they were clearly outnumbered by the advanced robots. Above them she noticed the bright red, old man on his flying machine, laughing hysterically at a safe distance from the show, but only a couple of yards away from the pink menace. She stepped out to the clearing, but no one payed any attention to her, ticking her off even more than what she already was. With her hammer in hand, she threw it on the back of Eggman's head with full force, causing him to nearly fall off his machine.

"Who threw that!" He spun around in all directions trying to find the culprit.

"Over here you old bastard!" She shouted, quickly grabbing the attention of all the males in the battlefield. "Why don't you try getting a life and stop wasting our time!" She pointed at the flying man "It's certainly a whole lot easier than this shit! And who knows, with this much effort and dedication you might even find a wife!"

The pain on the back of his head was instantly forgotten as it was replaced by rage. His face turned bright red with anger, but a second later his mouth suddenly transformed into a crooked smile that sent chills down everyone's spine. "Well, then little girl... I was planning on saving this for that blue idiot," both Sonic and Amy looked highly offended. "...but I guess you'll do just fine." A sinister laugh echoed out of his crooked smile as he smashed a button on his machine. All the canine machines reacted automatically, and clamped down on all the three males, securing them firmly to the ground. The remaining dogs paired up, and merged themselves together to form a single canine, twice their normal size with a blue liquid dripping out of their jaws and red eyes.

The red eyed dogs turned their attention to their pink target. The young rose summoned another hammer and stood her ground as the pack of dogs steadily got closer. Tails, quickly grasping the dangerous situation, bent down and started to disassemble the trap. Both Shadow and Sonic followed his lead and tried to break their bounded legs. But Amy continued to stand her ground.

Eggman's smile broadened when his robots surrounded Amy. She was terrified but the pink furred hedgehog kept her composure, a challenging smile ran across her face to anger the egg-shaped man even more.

"Now what was it that you said little girl?" He challenged, cupping his hands behind his ears "I want you to repeat the exact words that foul mouth of yours said."

The female smiled. "Well since it's understandable that loss of hearing is expected to occur to people your age, so I'll gladly repeated for you sir." Eggman's smile faded instantly, as she smiled kindly at him, "I said..." She was cut off as one of the dogs snapped the air centimeters away from her face. Her eyes widened with fear at her near death experience, but was instantly returned back to reality as crimson red eyes met her emerald green, trapped in a daze. Shadow frowned at the female and flicked her hard on her forehead. "Ow! What was that for?!" She yelled.

"Quit daydreaming and try not to get yourself killed!" His voice was awfully smooth while he firmly held two of the mechanical canines by the throat with both hands and shoved another one to the ground with his foot, as if he does this everyday.

"Show off..." Shadow glared at her, but the ice cold stare transformed to a panicked expression. Amy managed to turn around, and instinctively dodged the dog that hurled itself at her, missing her by mere inches, as she crashed the robotic canine into scraps of metal. She looked back to check on the others, but only to be met by the the sharp jaws of one of the robots. Her fast reflexes managed to rise her left arm up just in time for it to receive the full impact, it's sharp teeth were deeply embedded into her arm as she felt a liquid being injected into the wound. She somehow managed to hit the dog off of her with the hammer on her right arm. Her arm had deep puncture wounds from the bite, blood was streaming down to her fingers. Both Shadow and Sonic rushed over to her side with Tails not too far behind.

"You ok Ames!?" Sonic panicked. Amy gave him a thin smile.

"I'm fine." She spoke hoarsely. Both males didn't buy the act.

Completely ignoring her pain she slowly stood back up and summoned her hammer once again, ready to fight with one arm. But nothing came, the robots stopped attacking. Amy smiled and stood in triumph "Is that all yo-..." In an instant, Amy's head went blank, and her legs gave out. The Blue Blur was right there to catch her. Tails quickly made his way to the unconscious rose to examine her, while Eggman's laughter echoed throughout the clearing.

"The chemicals will have their full effect in about a week, i suppose." He laughed hysterical "Oh how I wish I could stay and watch her wither down, but I have to go!" He pushed a button in his machine, and in response the robots exploded one by one, some too close for comfort, until they all turned to a pile of ash. When the last one turned to ash, Eggman was already gone.

The three males turned their attention to the young female, who was still in Sonic's arms. "Ok good news is, that she fainted due to the loss of blood." The yellow fox pointed out.

"That's the good news?" The Blue Blur looked back at his young friend with a questionable look.

"At least that blue slime didn't poison her and that she'll survive Sonic."

"What exactly was that blue substance?" The Ultimate Life-form stepped in, inspecting the pink hedgehog's wounded arm.

"That's the bad news, Shadow, I have no clue to what this chemical is, or what effects it could have on Amy." He said, with his full concentration on the blue material leaking out of Amy's left arm. "For now, let's take her to Cream's shop, since it's the closest to our current location, and I'll run some tests when she wakes up."

All the males quickly got up, with Amy safely in Sonic's arms. Tails hurriedly snatched a sample off of the ashes. "Ok this will probably help us find a cure to our problem..." Hey turned back to where the hedgehogs stood seconds earlier. "Guys...?" He yelled, with no response. "Oh sure! Just leave the slow nerdy fox behind! Thanks guys!

* * *

It was early afternoon when they heard familiar bells jingle on the entrance door as an out raged fox stomped his way inside. "Well thank you SO much for waiting guys! A warning beforehand would be great next time!"

The blue hero smiled through stuffed cheeks filled with chili hotdogs, "Oh huy burry! Ware ver jeu?" (Oh hey buddy! Where were you?) He said with food almost spilling out of his mouth.

"Close your damn mouth, you idiot." Shadow spoke out everyone's thoughts as he came out of a small room followed by Cream and her mother.

"Oh my! Look at you! You're such a mess." Creams mother, Vanilla, hurried to Sonic and started wiping him clean with a handkerchief. Sonic struggled to break free.

"Let me go! I am a full grown hedgehog!" he protested, as his mouth was being wiped clean like a child.

"Well you certainly don't look like one." She said, her motherly instincts getting the best of her, as Tail rolled around laughing at Sonic's red face, cream giggled next to him. Shadow sighed, clearly annoyed by the hero's lack of discipline.

He turned to The laughing fox, "Miles," his athoritive voice caught the young fox's attention at once, "inform me of Rose's condition when she awakens."

"Yea alri-" but his sentence was cut off by a sudden crash coming from the small room. Sonic was the first one in the room, only to find the pink hedgehog awake. Without a second thought walked towards her.

"Ames! You're finally awake thank goodness, I thou-" as the hero took his final steps towards her, he saw a clearly panicked expression in her eyes, he hesitated but tried reaching out for her hand. Amy flinched, and immediately a hammer was summoned, and instinctively swung at him at full force, making him fly clear across the room and out the door.

When the Ultimate Life-form saw the blue hedgehogs body rocket out of the room and crashing on to the tables and knocking him uncoucious, he became a bit curious to the source of that hit. He smoothly made his way to the small room and looked inside. What he saw was total chaos, with Amy standing on a medium size table on the corner of the room, swinging her hammer as a warning to her friends as they tried to calm her down. Everything reachable to the pink hedgehog was either being thrown or broken. The strange scene made him chuckle, grabbing the panicked female's attention. She stopped but was still cautious of the people in front of her. She examined the red-stripped hedgehog, "Shad?"

"What?" He responded out of habit, too busy trying to suppress his laughter.

"Shad!" She quickly got off the table and ran to him, then he realized the old nickname. He put out his arm and stopped her by her head as she tried to get closer. A strange expression was on his face, which was caught in the middle of bewildered, confused, and surprised.

Tails took a step closer, "Umm... Amy?" The female stopped what she was doing and quickly hid behind the Ultimate Life-form.

"Please make these weird people go away, Shad..." She begged behind the male, everyone had their attention on the black hedgehog, curious to what he had to say.

The crimson eyed hedgehog glanced back at the rosy female behind him, cleared his throat and shifted hesitantly, then sighed deeply in defeat, "It's a long story...".


	2. A hidden past

It was late in the evening when Shadow somehow managed to persuade the pink female to sit still and get examined by Tails in the small room, he joined the others at a table not too far from the room. Sonic was finally conscious and was rubbing his head with some ice, it was obviously his first time being hit by that hammer, even the Ultimate Life-form had to admit: that thing was painful. The little café was deathly silent, even customers left feeling uncomfortable with the heavy atmosphere, but they were all curious to what the black hedgehog had to say.

Shadow sighed and crossed his arms "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Sonic spoke first, "from the beginning."

Shadow was slightly ticked by Sonics demanding voice, "First, there was nothing, then God said-"

"Shadow!" The blue hedgehog was getting annoyed.

"You prefer the scientific version?" He teased.

The blue blur's eye started to twitch with anger as Shadow smirked. He stopped his teasing before Sonic could make a scene."Well...I've known Rose since she was around five years old, she kept on getting lost from her parents and always ended up bumping into me somehow and I'd be obligated to take her back. She got lost so often that her parents knew me and often teased me that I was kidnapping her." He shifted awkwardly, remembering the events. "When she got older she'd intentionally leave her parents to search for me. I still don't know how that kid always managed to find me. Then she suddenly stopped, and didn't see her for a year. I didn't think much of it at the time.

Then, out of nowhere she finds me again, near a park, telling me that she ran away from her house. She never told me why, but I managed to persuade her to go back home. The next day I was called to the hospital since I was the only number they could be contacted under an emergency. I was informed later that day that her parents were deceased. The doctors told me that something traumatized Rose, making her lose all her memories, whatever it was it certainly scarred her. She couldn't remember me, she didn't have any family members to pick her up, and since I had no relation to her, they sent her to an orphanage. Four years later I found out that she was working along side you." He paused. " I believe that the substance in her left arm managed to make her forget that trauma. So her mindset must be less than 10 years old, but it's not certain."

Sonic shifted awkwardly in his seat, troubled by something, as Tails and Amy joined them. The quiet pink hedgehog stood fairly close to Shadow, while the young genius sighed loudly and pulled a chair to the table to sit. "So what's wrong with her?" Asked the blue hero.

The young fox sighed again and lowered his head, "Shadow's right, she doesn't remember any of us, with the exception of Shadow of course. That drug in her arm caused her serious amnesia." He paused, and looked at the silent female with her head lowered. "The memories of her childhood are still intact, and there's no way to be certain about the age her mind is in." Shadow looked at the silent hedgehog and turned her body to directly face him.

"Rose, where are your parents?" He asked in a gentle voice, everyone's head shot up, knowing that that was a delicate subject for Amy. But to their surprise, she smiled questionably as if it were a joke.

" They're back in my house, you know that you dummy." Everyone's hearts immediately sank to the floor.

_'Amy's parents were dead, she's an orphan... If she doesn't know this then that means that she hasn't experienced them yet, her mind is a lot younger than expected.._.' Tails thoughts were interrupted by Cream as she finally broke the heavy silence.

"Oh my goodness, it's already this dark outside, Amy you can't go home at this hour. Why don't you stay here for the night?" Sonic jumped up and put his arm around the rosy pink hedgehog.

"That's a great idea Cream! We wouldn't want you to get lost or get yourself hurt." He smiled broadly at Amy, but she she only glared at him. He got the message and stepped ten feet away from her.

"Thank you for the kind offer but Shad can take me home no problem. Right Shad?" She looked up with an admiring smile. Shadow sighed.

"The best option right now is for you to stay here." He said with a gentle yet demanding voice.

"I'm not staying, at least take me with you." She stated.

"Rose..."

"No."

Shadow glared at Amy and she equally returned the glare.

"You will stay here Rose." His tone was now menacing.

"You can't make me." She challenged.

Both hedgehogs were unwilling to throw in the towel. The argument could have lasted all day if Vanilla hadn't stepped in between them, "Ummm... Amy I don't believe it's right for a young lady like yourself to go alone with a full grown male." Sonic in the background looked deeply offended.

"I agree." Shadow acknowledged the older female's advice. Amy pouted like the stubborn child she was, but then smiled.

"There's really no need to worry ma'am, since me and Shad are clearly going to get married." Both Shadow and Sonic nearly died with the sudden news.

"Said who!?" Both males shouted in unison.

"Me of course." She stated without hesitation. Both equally sized males looked at each-other with questionable expressions.

Shadow cleared his throat "Wouldn't you prefer that blue guy over there?" Amy turned around and looked at Sonic from head to toe, he gave her his best gentleman smile.

"Nope, why would I?" Those words stabbed right through the blue hero. "Besides, I think Shad's a lot more handsome than him." That was the finishing blow to the blue hedgehog's poor soul as he shriveled up in temporary depression, Shadow couldn't help but smile in triumph. Tails stepped in holding out the samples of the ashes and the blue substance.

"I'll go run some tests in my lab, I'll be back when I get some results." He said as he was about to walk out of the café, but before he could leave Sonic blocked the exit.

"Oh no you're not! You're staying here until we solve this problem!" The blue hero stated. Tails was getting a bit frustrated, and sighed.

"I say, let Amy go with Shadow." The yellow fox shrugged.

"What!?" Exclaimed the blue hedgehog, nearly deafening the fox.

Tails backed away from Sonic holding his painful right ear, "I mean she has to figure this out some day if the amnesia is permanent, we can't lie to her forever."

"Lie to me about what?" The pink hedgehog asked, everyone froze. She nudged at Shadow's hand. "Shad what are they talking about?" Shadow coughed nervously. Everyone glared at the poor fox.

"Rose please take a seat," She obediently sat on the nearest chair, Shadow knelt down to her level right besides her. His tone was completely serious. "Look, Amy..." Everyone in the room was startled when he called her by her first name, but still had eyes of sympathy. "... You're a 17 year old girl with dead parents that is currently suffering from amnesia." Everyone's mouth flew open with shock.

"What a smooth way of breaking it to her Shadow!" Sonic yelled.

"I panicked."

Sonic pushed the black hedgehog away from her and stole his spot beside her. He gently grabbed both her hands "Ames, I know this is a lot to take in..." He glared at Shadow then turned back to the silent pink hedgehog. "...but always remember that you have us, your life-long friends, for support, so don't hesitate in askin me, or any of us, anything." He, along with everyone in the room, was astonished at how mature he could act.

The young minded female shifted in her seat and looked up at Sonic, her eyes were on the verge of streaming rivers of tears. Her voice shook as she spoke, "This means... I'm..."

"Ro-" Shadow was about to step in but was cut of by the pink hedgehog.

"I'm old enough to get married!?" She covered her mouth over-dramatically and faced the black hedgehog. "Shad this is great! We can finally get married and have a thousand babies!" Shadow froze in his tracks, as Sonic was shot dead by her words. Vanilla gasped at the young ones bold move, while both Cream and Tails couldn't suppress their laughter.

The rosy pink hedgehog jumped out of her seat and stood I front of the still frozen Shadow. "You should propose now." Shadow panicked again.

"Um, what about your parents?" The young Rose stood still for a second, then smiled brightly at the Ultimate Life-form.

"They're in a better place now right? I don't see any reason to be sad about something that can't be changed really. I will miss them a lot but I want them to see me smile up in heaven, so it doesn't bother me..." She grabbed Shadow's hands and started gently swinging them from side to side. There was a sharp pain in his chest.

"Rose..." He quickly stopped when he saw drops of water fall off her eyes, a painful expression washed over her face as she lost composure. She quickly lowered her head as she desperately tried to wipe them off. Her body suddenly felt warm. When she looked up the pink female realized that she was in the embrace of the Ultimate Life-form.

"Shad... I'm fine... Sorr-" Amy tried to push herself out but the black hedgehog hugged her even tighter.

"It's fine, everything will be alright." Those words broke her composure again, as she let her tears flow onto Shadows fluffy white chest fur. Shadow then realized the captivated audience in the same room, he cleared his throat and gently pushed Amy off of him. "Rose, could you wait for me in the employees lounge." He said point at the small room. The small rose nodded and quietly walked into the room, Cream and her mother accompanied her.

When she was completely out of sight Shadow collapsed onto one of the nearest chair and sighed as if it were the biggest mistake of his life. He gathered his thoughts and then turned serious once again. "Miles, what is the approximate date that the antidote will be finished." No one made a comment in the sudden change in topic. The two tailed fox observed the liquid carefully.

"It's pretty complex so I would say in... About three weeks, a month at the most."

Shadow turned to the fox, "Don't you remember what Doctor Fat-ass said?! We don't have a month, we need the the antidote in less than a week!" The black hedgehog was loosing his patience in a rapid speed.

"Hey, calm down man, we are ALL worried about Ames, but don't take in out on Tails." Shadow shot up, knocking down the seat in the process, his patience was clearly gone.

"Listen, that girl lost her memories to that fucking blue substance, we have no knowledge to what that could do to her in a week from now, and you want me to calm down! Do you even know who the fuck you're talking to?!" Shadow's deep voice thundered throughout the small café.

"Shadow, I am also tired of this shit, keep it together before I -"

"Before you what?! Whatever is happening to her was meant for you."

"Are you seriously going to bla-"

"Why?..." The threatening atmosphere was completely shattered by the fox who was deep in thought, completely unfazed by the situation. "The shot was meant for Sonic, but why would the doctor want to erase his memories...I mean what would he gain?" Both rivals dropped their argument and thought about the fox's logic.

Shadow's eyes grew wide. "Control..." The fox grew worried with the realization.

The blue blur was clearly confused, "Wait, what?"

Tails sighed at his slow friend. "If Amy looses all her memories, she becomes vulnerable, it gives Eggman an easier chance in manipulating her mind, thus being much easier to control."

Sonic slumped back and ran his fingers through his quills. "Woah... To think that I could have been under that Egg-head's control..." Shadow was clearly annoyed by the blue hedgehog's presence and made his way to the small room. Moments later he emerged with the young female in his arms deeply asleep. Sonic was deeply bothered by the way he was carrying her, since he was the only one who carried her bridal-style.

"I'll take her to her house." He didn't even hesitate as he made his way towards the entrance of the café. Sonic stopped him mid-way.

"Remember this you bastard: she still has the conscious of an 8 year-old, so if you make any move on her it is still considered as pedophilia and I will not hesitate in calling the authorities on you." Sonic's voice was deep and menacing, his eyes were dead serious.

Shadow made sad puppy eyes, "But she has the body of a grown woman so it shouldn't count, right?" Shadow stepped on Sonics land mine, and he swung his fist full force to Shadow's jaw. But before it could make contact the Ultimate Life-form dodged it, making the blue hero fall face first on the wooded flooring. The red striped hedgehog smirked, "I know it's pedophilia without having an idiot like you telling me." Sonic growled, but Shadow walked away before the enraged hedgehog could do anything else.

Tails was leaning on the doorframe to the entrance, Shadow met the young fox's gaze as he passed, "I can assure you that the antidote will be complete in much less than a week." Determination was filled in both his voice and eyes. Shadow nodded his acknowledgment at the fox genius as he stepped out into the night.

* * *

Amy mumble in her sleep as Shadow walked to her house, his thoughts where all over the place as he desperately tried to organize them. The memories of his own past were hazy, but anything that involved the vulnerable creature in his arms were crystal clear. He forcefully pushed aside those thoughts and tried concentrating on taking her back to her house. But it wasn't long before he passed by a local clinic, which reminded him of the hospital that Amy was in after being traumatized. Shadow thought long and hard about what the source of the trauma could have been, if he remembered correctly, she didn't get easily scared (although she did cry over everything). Amy suddenly mumbled his name, bringing him back to reality, and suddenly realized he was in her room.

He gently placed her on her bed. And quickly got out of her room. '_So apparently, I know how to get to Roses bedroom unconsciously... Why do I feel like such a pervert...' _ Shadow quickly dashed out of the female's home, but when he was about to open the door to leave, something caught his attention.

Right on a small desk, next to the door, there was a small picture frame, the photo inside was fairly old. But what managed to catch his eye were the two hedgehogs being portrayed. They held each-others hands, their smile was warm and loving. A tall red male hedgehog, and a snow-white hedgehog. But only one thing bothered the Ultimate Life-form.

"Who are these hedgehogs?"


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow's thoughts were now a jigsaw puzzle as he stepped out of Amy's house. _'I've met her biological parents, but those hedgehogs are complete strangers. I mean they could have been her adoptive parents, right? But shouldn't they be living with her... Oh my God! Did I just trespass into private property carrying the owner's sleeping daughter in my arms!? This was extremely low, even for me! This will certainly damage my reputation if someone found out, I might even-' _

"Shad...?" A small voice from behind scared him back to reality. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the pink hedgehog come out.

"Go back inside your house." He said trying to compose himself, but of course, the stubborn pink rose didn't listen.

"So this is my house...?" She stepped back to admire the shelter. "By the looks of this, I'm doing pretty well. I would've gotten something bigger though. A castle would've been perfect." When she looked back, the male was already walking away. She managed to catch up to him and began walking next to him.

"Rose, I will not repeat myself." His tone was serious. She pouted but remains unfazed by the male's threats.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not used to living alone... It's pretty scary."

Shadow suddenly stopped in his tracks, _'alone?...' _instantly a ton of bricks fell off his shoulders as he thanked God under his breath. He began walking again as if nothing happened. The female didn't pay any attention to his strange actions.

"Can I live with you for now?" She gave Shadow the brightest smile ever with puppy eyes.

"No."

"Come on! Please!"

"No."

"Shaaaad! I promise I won't bother you! Just please don't make me go back into that house alone!" She started to whine, as her eye looked like they were about to burst if they got any bigger. Shadow sighed in sympathy.

"Rose, there is nothing scary in that house, nothing can harm you in there." The young female awkwardly looked back and played with her fingers.

"I know... But it's creepy."

"How?"

"... There's a ton of pictures on the walls of that weird blue guy with stinky hotdog breath. They creep me out." Shadow chuckled but his decision remained clear.

"Amy I can't take you with me, you know that." The pink hedgehog pouted.

"And you know that I won't stay in there. No matter how hard you try Shad." Shadow sighed in defeat he was too tired to argue anymore with the stubborn female...

"Fine." He knelt down and looked back at the confused female. "Get on, we'll save time if I carry you." Her eyes gleamed with joy as she hopped on the Ultimate Life-form's back. "Hold on tight, I'm not coming back if you fall off." She obediently wrapped her arms around the black hedgehog's neck.

The Ultimate Life-form didn't give her a chance to enjoy the moment before he ran full speed to their destination. The young rose squealed in surprise, but seconds later she was amazed at how the random city objects became colorful blurs in the night. When she started noticing trees, she realized that they were outside the city. The black hedgehog slowed down when a small cabin-like house come into sight. He walked the remaining distance, highly alert, as if something could jump out of the dark woods. The night wind was certainly getting colder as he set the pink hedgehog down on the porch, when something in the in the corner of the female's eye caught her attention. She focused her eyes on the darkness, she could barely see anything, but something was definitely moving around the bushes!

"Shad... There's something in the woods." She pointed to the dark area between the trees. Shadow cautiously stepped off the porch, and at once, a black wolf with gleaming blue eyes stepped out of the darkness. It's head was lowered and white fangs were visible, but Shadow stood his ground when the wolf got closer. The wolf barked out a warning, but the male was unaffected. For a second, Amy admired the male's bravery. The wolf soon lost it's patience, and leaped on the hedgehog, knocking him down to the ground. Both the wolf and Shadow tossed each-other to the ground, trying to get the advantage. Shadow suddenly got the upper hand, but the black wolf quickly kicked him off with its hind legs. He tried getting up but the wolf was instantly above the Ultimate Life-form. The wolf's powerful front legs had the male pinned to the ground, it's fangs were inches away from his face. Amy, frozen in place, helplessly watched in horror.

"Alright you win!" The pinned hedgehog shouted. The wolf barked once. "I said you win damn it!" The menacing wolf automatically transformed into a playful pup as it rapidly licked Shadow's face. "Alright that's enough," he ordered as he pushed the wolf off of him by the snout. But the huge canine kept on trying to play with him as it followed him to the porch. It glanced at Amy but payed no attention to her. The male reached for a key above the door frame and opened the door. The wolf darted inside without hesitation, Shadow opened the door to let the female enter, but she only looked at him as if he were crazy. "What?"

"What do you mean by 'what?' That thing tried to kill you just a few seconds ago!"

"He was just playing, no harm in that." The wolf poked out his head from inside, waiting for them to enter. "Besides, he's still a fairly young dog, so it couldn't really hurt anyone."

"That is a WOLF Shad!" She dramatically pointed at it. "Even I have more common sense than to keep it."

"A man's got to have a loyal pet."

"That is not a pet!"

"Says who?" The young rose stayed silent, she would obviously not win this argument. She made her way inside with a stubborn expression, Shadow smiled at his small victory.

The house was very dark, the moonlight was the only source of light that emanated from the windows. It was a full moon tonight so the house was colored in smooth cold colors. Not much furniture, and no electricity! It was clear that he hasn't come here very often. There was a small fire place but the Ultimate Life-form didn't bother lighting it up.

"There's a bed in the room at the end of the hallway, you'll sleep there." She looked at the black hedgehog.

"Where will you sleep?"

"There's another bedroom right next to yours." She felt stupid asking him. She quickly marched up to her room, as she walked by she noticed there were only three doors in that hall. She couldn't help but pray that the last door led to a bathroom, she wasn't about to do her business out in the open where anyone could see her.

When she walked into the bedroom, she was instantly mesmerized by the view. There was a huge window on the roof that left you see the clear, star-filled night, and with the moon right above her room, it made the room light up in a light blue color. A huge wardrobe, with an equally sized mirror, sat in front of the king sized bed, reflecting the stars, making it even more fascinating. To her it felt like she was in a beautiful fantasy. She imagined small fairies dancing in the room, she danced with them, then they suddenly stopped, and they put a tiny crown on her head declaring her their princess!

The wooden walls weren't sound proof so Shadow overheard all her conversations with her fairy friends. He couldn't help but smile as he imagined the grown up female doing the exact same thing she did when she was a toddler. The large canine jumped on his bed and laid its huge head on the black hedgehog's torso, while he was still deep in his own thoughts. The canine lifted his head, getting annoyed by their neighbors loud noises, it stared at the wall waiting for her to quiet down, but it lost its patience. It only took one deep thunderous bark for the pink female to become completely silent. She quietly apologized and stayed quiet.

The canine laid back down and dozed off. There was an hour of complete silence and deep thoughts when sleep took over the Ultimate Life-form.

* * *

Shadow woke up the next morning on the hard wooded floor and the huge canine stretched across his bed. That dog was literally a pain on the neck. They both stretched in unison as they left the room, a sudden smell of smoke filled the black hedgehog's sensitive nose. He barged into the female's room but she wasn't there. A high-pitched scream followed by a loud crash made the male panic. He ran to the kitchen at full speed, only to find the pink culprit on the floor covered in milk and burnt breakfast. She noticed the black hedgehog staring at her with a pale face. She blushed in embarrassment and smiled awkwardly at the situation.

"Well,... You see.. I couldn't sleep so I tried making some breakfast for both of us... And then this happened..." The black hedgehog glanced out the window, it was still fairly dark outside, as the room was being lit by a small fire in the fireplace that looked like it could easily burn down the house. He looked back at his surroundings, the kitchen was a complete disaster, and there was mud everywhere. Even the dog had a look of sympathy for the male hedgehog.

"Why is there mud inside the house...?" He tried calming himself down. She finally got up and looked at the mud trail leading to her, she looked down shamefully.

"Well... It was getting cold, and I saw some firewood outside, so I went outside and got them. I didn't know there was mud on my shoes." The male sighed loudly as a huge migraine filled his head, but surprisingly remained calm.

"There's a bathroom to the right of the hallway, go get yourself cleaned up." The red striped hedgehog ordered. The young rose nodded and quickly walked to the bathroom with a trail of mud following her. The Ultimate Life-form silently shouted in rage.

'_Keep it together... She still has the mind of a seven year old kid, this is what they do: produce disasters...' _He looked back at the mess, _'I am never having children!'_

By the time Amy got out of the bathroom, the house was back to normal and a sweet fragrance filled the air. Her stomach growled loudly but there was one problem... She was still naked with no clothes to change into. She quietly peaked out of the bathroom door, with Shadow no where in sight. She was about to take her chances and dart to her room, but then she noticed a stack of red clothes on the floor by the door. She snatched them and put them on, they were her exact size! They were very similar to the ones she dirtied earlier this morning.

She hesitantly walked to the kitchen to find a familiar black hedgehog serving a plate of scrambled eggs and the wolf eating the burnt breakfast. Shadow noticed the pink female with her new clothes, but didn't move any closer to the food."I was afraid that you'd start running around the house nude, so I went by your house to get your clothes." She blushed bright red and looked at the floor in embarrassment since she was almost about to do exactly that. "Waiting for an invitation or what?" He said, without looking up at the female.

"No," she crossed her arms and made a stubborn face as she walked to the small table, the black hedgehog was already eating his small portion. She sat down and took a bite out of the food. It was surprisingly delicious! "This is AMAZING Shad! I didn't know you could cook!"

"It's nothing."

"It's perfect! You could make a great house husband!" Shadow choked on his food with surprise.

"Rose... Would you do me the favor of not mentioning that in front of me... " he struggled to say it even after his life was in no more danger.

She giggled, and dropped the subject, her eyes wandered through the house as she ate. "Why do you live so far from the city?" Shadow finally calmed down from the his near-death experience and inhaled deeply.

"That's not of your concern." The female ignored his harsh tone.

"It looks pretty old, and I noticed that theres pictures all over the place that aren't yours." She pointed to one that was hanging above the fireplace. The male looked up with an interested expression, as if he hadn't noticed them before.

"Must be from the old owners..." He went back to his food.

"Why didn't they take the pictures with them?"

"They probably didn't have the time to." Amy looked at the male, who wasn't eating anymore.

"Shad, did you know these people?"

"They're the ones who gave me this house." Shadow stared of into space recalling the events, "They took me in when I was in desperate need of help, no questions asked."

"They sound like really nice people for taking care of my husband! Where are they now?" The black hedgehog didn't respond, a look of sorrow washed over his face. Amy got the idea and tried to quickly change the subject. "What's his name?"

"What?" The pink hedgehog managed to get the male off of his dark thoughts.

"The wolf. What's his name?" The Ultimate Life-form looked at the canine.

"It doesn't have a name. He just comes here when he pleases so I see no purpose in naming it." Amy gasped dramatically.

"Didn't you say he was your pet? And he's obviously trained...But what kind of pet has no name?!" She thought for a second. "Blue! From now on his name is Blue!"

"For what reason exactly?" She sighed as if the male were an idiot and stood next to the giant canine.

"His eyes are blue! Sheesh I thought you were smarter than this Shad! But you're just another moron with a lot of long, fancy sentences." She crossed her arms, stuck her nose in the air, and stood tall, indicating that SHE was dominant over Shadow.

The Ultimate Life-form took offense to that and gave her a deathly glare. His blood-red eyes made the young female scared for her life, she realized she took it too far, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sooorrryyyy!" She apologized as if her life depended on it while she hid behind Blue, hoping the dog would protect her. The scene made her look like a helpless pet hamster, he tried keeping an angry face, but couldn't suppress his laughter anymore. The female noticed his scheme and emerged from behind Blue with pure rage in her face.

"Shad! You're such a meanie!" He laughed even louder at the mention of 'meanie'. Her face became bright red with anger, and she summoned out her legendary hammer. She ran towards the black hedgehog, but the male managed to stop her hammer mid-swing. He had a smug smile on his face as he got closer to her, she blushed as he was only a few inches from her face.

"Don't ever underestimate the Ultimate Life-form." She blushed even more as Shadow smirked. He gently let go of the hammer and went on about his own business as if nothing occurred. Her heart was racing laps as she stood frozen in place. A blasting wind of cold air brought her back to Earth and noticed Shadow opening the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked the black male. He glanced back at the female and walked to his room, he emerged a few seconds later with a coat on his hand. He tossed it at her direction and she caught it hesitantly.

"WE are going to go visit a certain yellow fox to get some results."


	4. At the Park

"Shaaaaaaddddd! Are we there yet?" Shadow rolled his eyes in annoyance when he heard the same question again as she played with the oversized coat she wore. The pink female was complaining about her feet and so on ever since they left the house because the black hedgehog decided to walk to the fox's laboratory. They were already in the city but the stubborn female didn't want to walk anymore. "Shad! My feet hurt!"

"We'll be there soon." He finally answered. She pouted.

"We'll be there sooner if you ran." She hinted at him.

"You're right," He took the bait! There was a huge victory party in her brain as she prepared herself to get carried. "But then how will you catch up?" Her celebration was shattered in an instant.

"You know exactly what I meant Shad!" She shouted at the hedgehog as she continuously hit him with her small fists with no results. His patience was extraordinarily good today, but the young female knew how to make the male meet his limit. A huge white marvel mansion soon came into view after two long, agonizing hours of total walking, the Ultimate Life-form thanked God under his breath and picked up his pace. The young female looked at the marvel mansion with pure awe. "Is this where the yellow fox lives!?"

"Government pays for his advanced machinery. It's no surprise that fox became a millionaire overnight." He stopped at the steel gates and pushed in a code, the gates gracefully opened to both hedgehogs. The pink female gazed upon the beautiful bushes with various types of flowers. "Careful Rose, despite the appearance, this place is heavily fortified." Amy carefully backed away from the potentially lethal flowers and walked closely behind the Ultimate Life-form.

When they got to the door, Shadow didn't bother knocking and walked straight in. To Amy's surprise the inside was a total disaster, nothing compared to the outside. There were piles of dirty dishes, garbage bags were everywhere, and a weird scent was emanating from a hall. The kitchen was huge, right next to the entrance, and in front of it there was an even bigger living room, with stairs leading to the second floor; it would've been a magnificent view if it hadn't been for the mess around it. In the center of the living room lay a long curved couch surrounding a flat screen tv. They suddenly heard loud snores coming from the couch, so the curious pink female went to figure out who's they were. To her surprise, she saw the blue blur deep in his nap with bowls of food on his side. She squatted down right in front of the sleeping hedgehog's face very curious to what he was doing here.

"Look Shad, it's the stinky blue hedgehog from yesterday." She smiled at the black hedgehog as she poked the blue ones nose as if he were a science experiment. Sonic twitched in his sleep but didn't wake up.

"Don't get too close Rose, he's a freeloader... I hear it's highly contagious." The Ultimate life-form warned the female, she heeded his advice and took a couple of steps back. At that moment a small explosion erupted from the same hallway that emanated the strange scent. The fire detector went off as two huge doors slammed open and a fog of smoke came bursting out. From the smoke emerged an ash covered fox in a lab coat, the young fox's goggles were pitch black so he didn't realize his visitors standing there as he grabbed a fire extinguisher from one of the kitchen cabinets.

When the smoke started to fade, Tails emerged from the room enraged. He threw the empty can of the fire extinguisher at the wall and quickly slumped down on the sofa with a long sigh. He removed the safety goggles and hung his head over the sofa, and stared at the ceiling deep in his thoughts... "Are you ok?" The pink female popped into the fox's view, he was scared half to death and tried getting up resulting in both their heads collided. Both cowered in pain. "Ow! What was that for!?"

"You're the one that scared me shitless!" He rubbed his forehead as he face the Ultimate Life-form. "How long have you guys been here? My cameras didn't detect you coming in..." He looked at the snoring hedgehog and sighed deeply, it wasn't the first time the blue culprit turned off his security cameras to sneak in.

"Not long. We came here to check on any sort progress, so what did you learn about the substance?" He skipped right to the main topic with no hesitation. The fox scratched the back of his head nervously and looked back at the room that he came out of, avoiding eye contact between the older male.

He exhaled loudly. "As you can obviously see, the antidote is still in progress..." He felt the pink female listening to their conversation. "Ummm...Let's go somewhere more private..." The Ultimate Life-form nodded, preparing for the worst and followed the fox into the hall out of Amy's sight.

As the males went to discuss their problem, she stayed in the living room with the snoring hedgehog. She sat on the clean side of the couch trying to ignore the messy environment she was stuck in. She tried summoning out the fairies she imagined last night to keep her mind busy, but only short nasty goblins appeared. She sighed and looked around the room with her new goblin companions. A particular black marker caught her eye, a brilliant idea came to her as she smiled evilly, her goblin accomplices were snickering in the background to her genius plan. She removed the the cap of the black marker and began her clever plan.

* * *

Shadow emerged from the room with a ghostly expression as Tails followed with the same worried expression from the start. They walked silently back to the living room, the black hedgehog suddenly stopped at the end of the hallway when he saw the pink female innocently sitting on the couch, waiting for him to return. The fox looked worryingly at the male.

"Shadow?.." The younger male glanced at the older male and followed his gaze to the pink female.

"If your prediction is correct, then she can't be left alone. She must be under constant watch until you find the cure." He paused for a minute to think. "She can't go back with me, so until you get that antidote, she will have to stay here." The fox's sky blue eyes showed understanding at the hedgehog's statement.

"It's only my prediction but we can't risk her becoming more vulnerable." The hedgehog nodded in agreement and walked to the living room. The pink female instantly glowed with joy when she saw the Ultimate Life-Form, the snoring hedgehog suddenly stretched on the couch awakening from his slumber. The female noticed, and quickly ran to Shadow's side. He looked at her suspiciously, but she only gave him a huge bold smile.

"Tails!..." The blue hero stretched and yawned "what time is it?" He turned around to face the group. His face was covered in black doodles with a huge LOSER was printed on his forehead, a small hitler mustache, whiskers, and random sketches were drawn all over his face. The pink culprit giggled ferociously at her artwork, Shadow covered his mouth desperately trying not to laugh, while Tails was laughing his ass off without holding back. "What's so funny?" Tails was crying now, he couldn't stop laughing at the pathetic blue hero.

Shadow somehow managed to compose himself, Amy tugged on Shadows hand, "Shad let's go to the park." She looked at the confused hedgehog and laughing fox. "All of us."

The young fox wiped away his tears, "That's great Amy but we can't let him go like this." He tilted his head at the direction of the blue hedgehog who gave up trying to figure out the situation. But the stubborn female didn't give up her plan.

"You're right..." She lied, trying to think of another way of engaging her brilliant plan.

"Oh yeah! Tails, I need to borrow some money again..." The pink hedgehog smiled at the perfect timing. The yellow fox looked at the blue hero with a questioning look.

"What about the money you owe me from last time?" The blue hedgehog sighed.

"Do I really have to pay you back? I mean, you live in a MANSION! And you really don't use the money anyway, so what do ya say?"

'_Its not about the money, it's about the respect you idiot!_' The fox shouted in his thoughts, but a smile remained on his face."You know what? I think a walk in the park sounds perfect right now, let's go Sonic." The blue hedgehog's ears perked up, clearly interested, as he quickly jumped out of the couch and joined the small group. They all paused for a minute to look back at Sonic's pathetic face, he looked at them questionably.

"Are we going or not?" The scribbled faced hero asked. With that they all left through the door to the chilly afternoon wind. And instantly, Sonic's face received all the attention.

At first he looked at them with an awkward smile, but when all the passing females giggled, his ego skyrocketed. As they kept on walking, more and more of the females smiled and giggle at the great hero, and he'd smile and wave at them with a cooled expression. The blue hedgehog glanced back at the red striped hedgehog and smirked as if saying_ 'You can't even compare to how much these girls love me for my looks.' _But the black hedgehog responded with a smug smile saying '_Don't get so cocky, idiot.'_

When they made it to the huge park in the center of the city, Amy walked in front of the guys, enjoying the park's peace and tranquility like every time she came here before her amnesia. Shadow observed the pink hedgehog closely, his eyes soon fell upon her left arm where the blue substance was injected. The wound was completely healed, no sign of any serious damage to the female's arm.

Both the young female and the blue hedgehog heard the sudden familiar melody of an ice cream cart in the distance, and before the remaining males noticed, they were both gone in pursuit of the of the frozen treat. In an instant both Shadow and Tails became serious.

"Her wound healed in an alarming rate." The fox pointed out to the knowing hedgehog. "Means that the material has affects her more than just the brain... This thing is manipulating her ability to heal.."

"Miles, how long will it take for your prediction to have effect?" The fox thought about his question thoroughly.

"Today is barely the second day since the accident, if you count yesterday as being the first... I would guess she will show symptoms in two days." Shadows eyes widened with worry at the small amount of time. Tails noticed his worried expression.

"Shadow... It's just like I said back in the mansion..." A small pink figure came into view. "That substance isn't just a poison or a disease, the liquid is spreading strategically around her body, manipulating parts of her body until until she has lost complete control."

The black hedgehog looked at the small fox. "You can slow it down." The young fox sighed and looked in the distance, trying to avoid a certain pair of blood-red eyes.

"It's possible, but the smallest mistakes can make it even worse... " he looked back at the older male. "Shadow, I observed the liquid under a microscope... It's filled with micro-bots... They're multiplying by the billions, and transporting through her blood. Those things managed to block her memories as of right now, but with a push of a button, they have the potential of killing those brain cells. If that situation were to occur then there will be absolutely nothing we could do to bring the old Amy back. She will become a weapon against us." The Ultimate Life-form's ears stood up, and stopped dead in his tracks.

The Ultimate Life-form stood silent, his thoughts engulfed him. A small shriek from the distance brought him back as the blue idiot chased the pink female around with ice cream in their hands. How ironic. He exhaled a long breath he didn't know he was holding, and returned to the patient fox. "The longer we wait the worst it gets, we have to stop that lunatic doctor's plans before she looses her memory completely. If his matter becomes fatal, I will personally deal with it. But as of right now, she will depend on you."

The fox opened his mouth to respond the Ultimate Life-form, but a horribly loud shout from a familiar blue hedgehog, "TAAAIIILLSSS! You little backstabber!" The blue hedgehog came in super sonic speed and towered over the yellow fox. Amy was being carried by Sonic's left arm like a bag of luggage, carelessly licking her ice cream on the right hand as she held another in her left; she clearly gave up trying to break out of the hedgehog's strong grip a long time ago, and her facial expression was of someone who didn't care.

"What are you talking about?" The young fox managed to suppress his laughter and expressed a face of boredom. Sonic was already used to his way of lying, and that angered him even more.

"This!" He dramatically pointed at his face, he was so enraged that a vain looked like it was about to pop. The fox's baby blue eyes looked at the pink female questionably.

"The ice cream man told him." The pink culprit answered calmly to his unspoken question.

"I expected this from Shadow but my best pal had to backstab me and make me look like an idiot!"

"Believe me, you do that perfectly by yourself." Both the pink female and the black hedgehog said in unison. Sonic got even more ticked by their comment and set Amy down on the floor. She smiled with delight and immediately skipped her way towards Shadow.

"Here," she extended her left arm where she held the extra cone of ice cream, "this ones for you." The Ultimate Life-form hesitated but he eventually took the frozen treat from her with gratitude. He smiled warmly at her kindness, and she returned to him just as warmly.

Sonic stomped over between the two hedgehogs and stood facing Shadow with a bratty childlike expression. With a swift motion Sonic knocked the ice cream off of the black hedgehog's hand. The frozen treat landed with a plop sound on the gravel as both males glared at each-other with hateful expressions that resembled that of young pre-school kids fighting over a toy. Before they could say anything, the pink hedgehog intervened and faced the childish blue hedgehog.

"That was Shad's you jerk!" The pink girl walked up to him and kicked the hedgehog hard on the knee. Sonic yelled in pain as he cowered down, jumping on one leg as he held his knee, Amy ran and took cover behind Shadow. The Ultimate Life-form couldn't stop laughing at the female's childish attack and retreat.

Tails blankly stared at the rare scene, Shadow laughing, Sonic chasing Amy with a limp, as she hid behind the Ultimate Life-form himself... A sudden uneasiness built up in his chest, his throat clogged up with a sudden heaviness that only he felt as horrible thoughts engulfed him. _'What if I can't do it? What if I can't make the antidote in time or if it doesn't work when it's done? What if... I am the one who erases a good friend's presence...'_ He dropped his head, staring at his feet not being able to take the huge responsibility of someone's life, he was still young, younger than Amy in fact. The pink female suddenly noticed the lone fox with his head hanging low and his body shaking uncontrollably. It seemed as if there were boulders so the small fox's shoulders.

The sudden seriousness in the female's expression made the two larger males go mute. Their gazes followed Amy as she quickly ran to the young fox and embraced him. The fox choked on his own words as he tried to sound ok. "Amy?..."

"You had a such a sad expression... It looked like you desperately needed a hug." Tails was surprised at her advanced vocabulary, as she tightened her embrace on the fox. "If I'm the reason behind such a sad look, don't worry about me so much." She held his shoulders as she put a bit of distance between them and smiled brightly. "Tails, you dumb little fox, I'll be fine you'll see..."

'_Tails?...Wait a moment...' _the small fox wasn't sure what was happening, but Amy certainly never called him by his name ever since the accident. The pink female quickly grabbed his cheeks and shook him playfully, then patted his head as if she were calming her little brother. But instead of making him smile, Tails became very serious and alert, something was seriously out of place. Only their old Amy did this motherly gesture. He glanced at Shadow who nodded, acknowledging her unusual behavior, Sonic recognized it as well.

"Amy... How old are you? And who's the hedgehog behind you?" The female glanced behind her to see the Ultimate Life-form then looked at the young male questionably, and answered due to his seriousness.

"I'm seventeen.. And that's Shadow of course... Why the sudden questions?" The males exchanged surprised expressions. Sonic ran in front of the female.

"Ames! You're back!" He hugged her tightly, Amy's cheeks became extremely red.

"Umm.. Sonic...?" The blue hedgehog pulled himself away with excitement.

"Guys! She's back! Stupid Eggman can't do anything right!" He kept on babbling about all the Doctor's many failed attempts and how he will never be able to stop them. Shadow noticed the confusion in Amy's face, and she kept on blinking as her eyes couldn't keep their focus, he walked up close to the female and placed a hand on the pink female's forehead.

"Rose...Are you seriously alright?" She blushed as the gentle, warm hand made contact with her fur.

"Yeah, I'm fine... I have no clue to what's going on, but at least Tails got his mind occupied with something else." She glanced over to where the blue hedgehog was babbling about himself and the yellow fox not paying the slightest attention. Her legs suddenly gave out and landed on Shadow's chest.

"Rose...?" The black hedgehog steadied her but had a worried look on his face.

"I'm ok... I'm just a little dizzy, th-" Her voice was cut off as her emerald eyes started to fade, her eyelids closed and her body went limp. Shadow caught her just in time before she hit the gravel.

"MILES!" Shadow shouted for the young fox's presence immediately. Both Sonic and Tails ran to his side as he held the limp female. The yellow fox opened her eyes, her jade eyes were noticeably changing to a blue shade. Sonic paced away as he held his spinning head with both hands. There was a terror in the fox's baby blue eyes as they met with worrying ruby red ones.

"This isn't good..."


	5. Chapter 5

He heard the birds start chirping outside, as the sun began to rise yet again. The sun's rays began warming a red-striped hedgehog's back as it peeked its head out of the horizon. He sat on the windowsill of a certain rosy pink female's room, his ruby red eyes lost their focus a long time ago due to lack of rest, with nothing particular in his mind, just the strange throb in his chest that he couldn't get rid of. His body felt extremely heavy, he lost his appetite, and didn't move from that spot since she fainted at the park. His patience was being tested to its final limits with every hour that passed meant less time remained. With only three days remaining until the substance completely erases the pink female's memory, he couldn't help but worry about her.

The black hedgehog didn't even flinch when the door suddenly opened and two familiar faces appeared into the room. He didn't look at their direction, since he already knew who they were, his focus stayed on the female. The blue hedgehog looked at his loyal companion with a worried look, both males were thinking the exact same thought. The yellow fox was the one who walked and stood next to the young rose, he examined her pulse... Still alive. He sighed in relief, and then looked directly at the Ultimate life-form.

"Shadow..." The fox waited for a response but knew none was coming. "Look, we know you're worried, but you've been here for two straight days. This isn't healthy."

He didn't respond.

The blue hedgehog got impatient. "Shadow! You look like a fucking corpse man! Get up and do something about yourself before she wakes up." He pointed at the unconscious female.

The Ultimate Life-form tilted his head at the blue hero's direction and gave him a death glare that frightened the soul out of him. "What if she doesn't?" His pessimistic question made the room feel a lot more dense. The young fox cleared his throat before he spoke.

"She will, trust me." But his statement didn't reassure the black hedgehog, he hesitated to speak again, "The week isn't over Shadow there's still some time to make things better... She even managed to regain her memories for a moment by herself..." But that didn't make things any better, since he was the kind of hedgehog that didn't believe anything until he saw it with his own eyes. The remaining males stopped trying to convince the red-striped hedgehog and left without another word to be said.

He was left with his own thoughts as he stared at the unconscious female. She was clearly breathing, and her closed eyelids moved from time to time: a sign that she was still dreaming... He stood up from the windowsill and walked next to Amy's bed... He looked at Amy's peaceful expression, he smiled stiffly but behind those faded red eyes, there was no hope. Even if she did wake up, then what? Sooner or later she will become a weapon against them, under the control of Eggman... What really bugged him was that he could only stand there and do absolutely nothing, and the more pressure he put on the young fox, the slower the results.

A sudden creak from the bed brought the red striped hedgehog back from his negative thoughts, only to find Amy sitting upright in her bed. He took a step back in shock, "Rose?..." He muttered, but she didn't respond.

He noticed her eyes were a light blue color, they were unfocused, and no expression appeared on her face, resembling a soulless corpse. At that moment, two noisy males barged into the room, celebrating something but instantly went mute when they saw the female. Tails stepped forward, approaching the pink hedgehog slowly and cautiously. "Amy?..."

Amy didn't respond, she stayed silent for several minutes, until the Ultimate Life-form finally broke the heavy silence. "Rose, can you hear us?" The pink hedgehog turned her head towards Shadow. She began blinking rapidly as she focus her eyes and a light shade of green began to reappear in her eyes, when she stopped they were light green with traces of blue.

"Shaddie..!" She smiled brightly at Shadow and raised her arms like a baby, signaling she wanted to get carried by the Ultimate Life-form. His heart immediately sank to the earth's core, and hesitantly stepped back. Amy saw this and stared at him with a confused look. She quickly got up and wobbly made her way towards him like a new-born. She stumbled the last step but managed to find support on the black hedgehog's sturdy body. She smiled victorious at the male, "I got you Shadie." And embraced him tightly. He flinched as he heard her say the same nickname once again, the one she gave him when they first met. He remembered it so clearly how she couldn't pronounce his name and decided for herself that 'Shadie' would be his new name. He'd get angry at the childish nickname and would always try correcting her, but right now... That name actually frightened the Ultimate Life-form. She was back to her innocent five year old self, its only a matter of time before...

The young minded female then departed from the black hedgehog and looked shyly at the two other males in the room. "Where's the bathroom?" Both hedgehogs reacted awkwardly at her innocent question.

"Across the hall." The young fox replied, pointing at the direction of the bathroom as the pink hedgehog skipped happily towards it. When she was out of sight, the attention went back to the Ultimate Life-form, who stood like a statue in the center of the room. Both Sonic and Tails walked towards him, Sonic started waving his hand in front of the Ultimate Life-form mockingly.

"Heellloooo... Earth to Shadow. I repeat, Earth to Shadow..." He didn't even blink.

"She's losing her memories... She's fucking FIVE years old!" His empty stare shifted towards the young fox with eyes full of rage and mixed emotions. He stomped over towards the unsuspecting fox and towered over him. "She is five years old Miles! We can't wait another fucking day! When will you finish that cure!"

Tails struggled to get composure as deathly blood-red eyes promised a path of torture if things didn't go his way. He glanced over to Sonics direction, who was ready to pounce on the Ultimate Life-form if things got out of hand. For a second he thanked God he had an equally strong friend to help him out in this situation. He managed to steady his voice but his knees were shaking like crazy.

"There's a prototype!" The menacing hedgehog stopped in his tracks "...It won't completely cure her amnesia but it will at least slow it down and possibly manage to regain a few of her memories." Shadow stepped back to let the defenseless fox calm his racing heart. The young fox looked back at the dumbfounded black hedgehog.

"Will it cause her any permanent harm?" Both Sonic and Tails looked at the Ultimate Life-form with baffled expressions... Was he seriously concerned about the well-being of someone else?...

Tails cleared his throat before he spoke, "Umm.. Well there is none that I know of, but it will disable most of the micro-bots to give us some extra days." Sonic suddenly realized the young female's long absence and stepped out of the room while the other two kept on discussing. A moment later he came barging back in the occupied room, clearly out of breath.

"Guys.. Amy's gone." His voice could barely be heard as he tried to catch his breath. The males were quick to react as they stormed out of the room. "I checked everywhere in the mansion, like ten times." By the looks of the messy rooms that appeared like a tornado took place, they could tell that he wasn't lying. The fox flung his arms over his head in desperation, and desperately think of a way to figure out her whereabouts. Then it hit him.

"The security cameras!" He rushed upstairs and the two hedgehogs followed pursuit. He ran to the end of the long hallway to large steel doors that looked indestructible. He quickly removed his glove and place his hand on a scanner, a few seconds later the huge doors slid open and the group wasted no time in entering. The young fox centered himself in front of the large monitor in the room, and with a push of a button, the giant machine came to life. Small screens started to appear with cameras that each showed a different place in various parts of the area. "These cameras have a 50 mile radius, she couldn't have gotten any further than a mile so these will certainly pick out her whereabouts in seconds." On cue, a small alarm set off on one of the cameras, the fox enlarged it across the giant screen revealing the pink female near a wooded area... With Eggman...

They all stared at the screen with a chill in their spines, the monitors weren't audible so the males couldn't hear their conversation. Shadow felt helpless for a second but the hedgehog snapped himself out of it. He looked at the monitor, on the bottom left he spotted the exact pinpoints of the scene. He ran out of the room towards Amy at lightning speed. The loud slam of the door shocked the remaining males back to reality.

Sonic rushed after Shadow, but as Tails was about to follow something in the monitor caught the fox's attention and decided to remained in the room...

* * *

Shadow arrived at his destination in less than a minute, but the pink female was nowhere in sight, nor the oversized doctor. He searched the area around him, but with no heart stopped and instantly thought the worst as his powerful legs gave up on him, Sonic arrived a moment later to find the Ultimate Life-form on his knees, staring at the distance with hopeless eyes. The blue blur quickly got the picture and let out a frustrated shout as he swung a nearby tree. There was a heavy silence as both hedgehogs didn't speak, not wanting to accept the harsh reality, only the leafs on the trees as they swayed in the breeze kept it from becoming complete silence.

Shadow's sharp ears heard rustling in the bushes, thinking that it was nothing of importance he decided to ignore it, but the rustling then became louder to a point where even the blue blur noticed the sound. Shadow stood to his feet, curious yet ready to fight. But everything was dropped when the rustling came with a small humming tune of a female, Sonic walked over to the source of the music with a hint of hope but was still cautious. He stepped into the underbrush, where Shadow could barely see him through the dense bushes.

"Ame-!" The blue hedgehog's sudden joyful voice was forcefully interrupted by the pink female's hammer as he sent him flying through through the small clearing, colliding harshly with a tree, knocking the blue hero unconscious. Shadow's guard was now up, and stood his ground. Moments later a pink hedgehog emerged from the thick underbrush, the hammer was resting smoothly on her shoulders as a victorious smile crossed her face. That's when the Ultimate Life-form noticed the icy blue eyes that replaced the familiar emerald ones, making her glares even more menacing.

"Rose..." The female's name slipped out of the black hedgehog's mouth, but she didn't react. Her eyes kept a steady but serious gaze with Shadow as she walked towards him. Her smile became interested and playful when the Ultimate Life-form stood his ground. She leveled her hammer behind her back and walked a circle around the male with a curious gaze, observing him from head to toe like a wolf encircles his prey before the kill.

She did a full 360 around Shadow and stopped right I front of him. She looked straight into his ruby red eyes with her menacingly playful smile. "The Doctor says that you and I experience a similar situation. You don't have our memories intact, just like me. Correct?"

The male flinched at the pink female's statement, realizing that she was a stranger now. "Affirmative." The female tilted her head curiously at the black hedgehog's strange but extremely steady response. Out of the corner of the male's eye, he saw the blue hedgehog slowly getting up from the impact.

"So you know what it's like not having a clue to who you are, or why you're here. You know my reasons to making a deal with such a weird old man."

"He's not someone that you can trust. He won't keep his promise, Rose. He will use that weakness against you, and manipulate you to becoming his pawn." The pink hedgehog's smile faded, and her eyes became daggers.

"The Doctor seemed to know quite a lot about you in specific, Shadow the Hedgehog. He advised me that you can easily convince those around you, great at making a fool out of others..." Her eyes were now deadly as the smile reappeared on her face. "He called you 'The Ultimate Life-form'" she stepped closer to the male. "That's a pretty high reputation you have there... Must be a real pain living up to the title." The female swung her hammer aimed right to the male's jaw, but the black hedgehog caught it mid-swing with his left hand.

"They don't call me The Ultimate Life-form just for anything, I earned the title." A triumphant smile was plastered on his face, infuriating the female even more.

"Let me test that out for myself..." She gave him a devilish smile, catching him off guard, she let her first hammer go, jumped over the male, as she was still in the air she summoned another hammer and struck the unsuspecting hedgehog behind the head. He managed to expertly roll back to his feet as his head stung from the impact, he was amazed how natural her movements were, but he didn't show it.

"Guess I've underestimated you all this time, Rose." He smiled at the challenge in front of him, she giggled at his compliment.

"Better quit while that handsome face of yours is still in one piece."

"Challenging the Ultimate Life-form is a bold move for such a small girl. Be warned that I don't hold back." Her smile grew more challenging at his statement.

"Good." She summoned out another hammer, holding the two hammers in both hands with no hesitation in her movements as she lunged herself into the battlefield.

The powerful male inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a second, clearing his racing thoughts. _'She's no longer the familiar Amy Rose.'_ He opened his eyelids, revealing menacing blood red eyes. '_She is now an enemy... My enemy...'_


	6. Chapter 6

The powerful male inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a second, clearing his racing thoughts. _'She's no longer the familiar Amy Rose.'_ He opened his eyelids, revealing menacing blood red eyes. '_She is now an enemy... My enemy...'_ He took out the chaos emerald but a sudden image of the pink female's bright smile evaded his head, making the black hedgehog lose his train of thought. A sudden shock on his lower jaw brought him back to his senses, the force from the hammer spiraled him in the air but he managed to land on his feet. He heard the pink female giggle historically but before he could regain his focus the quick female was already attacking with her hammers once again.

His fast reflexes made him dodge the first hammer, but that was only a diversion, as the second hammer struck his feet, making him lose his balance. Amy smiled victoriously, but too soon. The male's right hand struck the ground as he tried to regain his balance, using this to his best advantage, he slid and tripped the pink female with his powerful legs. She fell to the ground, but quickly got back up. Her bright blue eyes were challenging the Ultimate Lifeform, but the male wasn't about to get taunted by the female. He hid the emerald back in its place and glared at the young Rose.

Sonic was witnessing the battle in the sidelines, astonished by Amy's natural attacks, but what really surprised him was the way Shadow didn't use the emerald. He always used his chaos emerald when he fought, but now.. This could only mean that he wasn't taking this fight seriously! He was going to go easy on Amy!

At that moment the quick female launched herself at the male swinging one hammer then the other, but he only dodged her moves. She kept it up until she could land another blow on the male, but he was too fast. She'd swing her hammers with lethal force, then use them as a base to swing herself at him to at least knock him down with a kick, but he'd always manage to block with his arms just in time. The Ultimate Life-form suddenly noticed a certain pattern to her attacks, she'd use the first swing as a diversion then the second as the main attack, her feet were in perfect sync with her movements. She would then catch her breath for a split seconds before she attacked again. He decided to test his prediction on the female, who was plainly focused on trying to win the battle.

He waited until she caught her breath and repeated the pattern, but this time he focused on the main attack. He dodged the suspected diversion with ease, then caught the hammer to her main attack, the female was shocked, but it then turned to confusion when the black hedgehog let it go. She took the opportunity to attack again, but this time with the opposite arm doing the attack, the male was surprised for a second before he kicked her legs, knocking her down on the floor. He quickly towered over her, pinning her to the ground. She was bewildered at his actions, as she desperately tried to escape his firm hold, but all her efforts where useless. He smiled confidently at the pink female, leaned forward and whispered something closely in her ear. For a second, for the spectating blue hero, it looked like they were about to kiss, but those thoughts instantly vanished when Amy started yelling in rage at Shadow for his inaudible comment. He felt a bit awkward that he even thought about *that* happening between the two hedgehogs.

"Well that was fast..." The sudden voice of a familiar yellow fox behind him scared the blue hedgehog half to death, slightly embarrassed that his didn't notice his loyal friend was there. "I honestly thought that this was going to last a bit longer since Shadow didn't use his chaos emerald, but I guess I underestimated him." The fox sighed and then looked at the taller male, a smile grew on Tails's face when he noticed that the blue hedgehog was blushing. "Heyy... Sonic, are you blushing?" The sly fox said in an innocent voice, as the blue hero quickly put on a poker face.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to sound indifference, but the clever fox wasn't buying the hedgehog's script.

"Was it because it looked like Shadow was about to kiss Amy?" Sonic's eye twitched at Tails's comment. The clever fox hit the bullseye. "No way! You've got to be kidding me! I was only joking!" Tails jumped, pointed, and laughed at the embarrassed hedgehog.

"Would you shut up already? That's not the reason..." He sounded like a pouty child that wasn't getting what he wanted, making the fox laugh even harder as he rolled on the ground until his side hurt. "Tails, even if it was, it's not that funny, so get over it." Sonic denied as Tails let out a final sigh and wiped his tears.

"It's just ironic how things turned out to be this way." The blue hero turned to the sitting fox with a puzzled expression.

"What? Why?"

"Well, you know how she's always been after you like a lovestruck puppy, and you've always ignored it." The fox suppressed a laughter, "And now, here we have a lovestruck Sonic going after the same girl who now doesn't know you, and trusts your rival more than you!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"What a friend you turned out to be..." The fox only smirked, "But either way, when she gets her memory back she'll return back to the same old Amy, so I have nothing to worry about." Tails sighed.

"And what if she keeps those memories of Shadow? Are you still confident that she'll choose you over him?" A mountain of realization crushed Sonic's confidence. "I'm telling you old friend, you couldn't have picked a worse time to have finally develop 'feelings' for Amy."

"I haven't, trust me." Tails rolled his eyes at his obvious lie.

The blue hedgehog sifted his gaze to the ground, not wanting to continue the conversation, while Tails sighed and returned his attention back at Amy and Shadow, who were already heading their direction. Shadow held the female in his arms, bridal style, with his left hand holding the girl's wrists firmly, and his left arm holding her legs forcefully. Amy was struggling with all her strength to break free while Shadow struggled to keep her in place, anyone who passed by could clearly see that both of the hedgehogs were hating the event. The genius fox stole a quick glance at the blue hero, but surprisingly, he had a calm expression. But inside, he was burning with jealousy; in his eyes it looked like they were happily on their way towards their honeymoon, rubbing the moment all over his face.

The black hedgehog's gaze turned to the yellow fox. "Do you have any sort of material that will be able to bind this girl's arms and legs?" His tone was clearly annoyed, infuriating the female even more.

"Who are you calling a 'girl' you bastard! I'm 17 years old!" The male rolled his eyes, and waited for the fox's respond.

"Umm.. I don't have any on me at this moment, sorry." The red striped hedgehog sighed deeply irritated. "What did you say to make her so mad?" The fox curiously asked. Amy growled at the Ultimate Life-form, promising a painful death if he repeated the insult.

He sighed as if he were innocent, "I told her 'Learn more advanced types of fighting if you ever want to stand a chance against me.' Then she started getting mad at me." Tails had a look of pity for the pink female, Shadow was clearly looking down at Amy as an opponent, but to him, he was just stating the obvious.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Shadow glared at her in irritation, Amy flawlessly returned it.

Sonic decided to use this opportunity to his advantage. He acted annoyed with their conversation, and grunted loudly. "Let's go already, before that creep of a doctor comes back." He looked at the equally sized male, "If it's such a bother carrying her, then I'll do it." Shadows eyes widened in suspicion, then smiled.

"Fine by me." Without hesitation he tossed the female at Sonic like a rag doll, he managed to catch her just in time. Sonic had a confused and surprised expression, but didn't argue since he got what he wanted. Shadow turned and walked back towards the mansion, then suddenly stopped to make a side comment. "Oh. And be cautious, she bites, scratches, and kicks..."

In two exact seconds he heard a scream of pain from the blue male, and when he turned around the fast female was right besides the black hedgehog in mid-kick. But the male was too fast, and caught her leg before it reached his body, making her lose her balance and fall to the ground. The male was quick to position her in his arms again, with the hold that was nearly impossible for the female to escape.

With the troublesome culprit trapped, the male turned his attention back to the two other males. Sonic was cowering in pain in a painful position on the ground. Shadow looked at Tails with a confused expression. The fox hesitantly sighed, fearful of the female. "She bit, scratched, then...kicked..." Shadow put the puzzle together and tightened his grip on the female. Now she knew there was no way in escaping, but the Ultimate Life-form certainly didn't want to end up like his rival. The blue hedgehog groaned in pain, and slowly wobbled back to his feet, finding support on Tails's smaller body. The black hedgehog smiled sarcastically at Sonic.

"Well we don't have to worry about a generation of more idiots being reproduced anymore." Sonic growled at Shadow's sarcastic remark.

"I can still go over there and kick your ass in an instant, so don't get so cocky." He said in a strained voice, limping as he walked. The Ultimate Life-form only chuckled at his weak statement, and they slowly made their way back to the mansion.

Amy struggled to break free the whole time, making the simple journey into a living hell for the males. Shadow was almost to his breaking point, when a sudden bright blaze caught the attention of the whole group. To their horror, half of the mansion was blown apart and the the remaining side was starting to light up with fire, even the pink female stopped her struggle to stare at the burning building, as an echoing sinister laugh that sounded strangely familiar rang through the wind. When she looked back at the once confident and careless males, she now saw horror and anger in all their eyes, knowing very well who the culprit was.

"Tails!" The blue hedgehog was quick to react and shook the fox back to reality. "The prototype, it's in the lab right?" Sonic asked the petrified fox, who struggled to focus on the hedgehog's question.

"Y.. Yeah... It's green, right next to the microscope." But just as the blue hero was about to jump into action Shadow stopped him by shoving the pink female into the male's arms.

"I'll go. It'll be much faster." He said as he pulled out his chaos emerald, and before Sonic could protest, the black hedgehog was already gone. They stared at nothing as the Ultimate Life-form vanished, Sonic then quickly realized the potentially lethal girl in his arms and quickly held her in the impenetrable lock like Shadow had her in. She glared at the blue hedgehog, but quickly lost interest and looked back at the burning building. Seconds after the Black hedgehog disappeared into the building to retreave the prototype, another explosion occurred on the opposite side of the building, right where the lab was located. The structure collapsed on itself and nothing but rubble and smoke could be visible.

Both males stood horrified, but were still waiting for the Ultimate Life-form to miraculously emerge from the ordeal like he always had. Several seconds passed and nothing happened, no one could move from their places, it's like they were turned into statues. Each passing second felt like hours, but nothing occurred...

All of a sudden they heard continuos rasping coughs coming from behind them, Tails was the one who turned around first and froze solid. Sonic looked behind him, only to find the familiar black hedgehog leaning on a nearby building, his right arm holding his abdomen as he used his left arm to find support on the building. They stood there, amazed that the male once again cheated death, but the weakened hedgehog's legs quickly gave up and he slowly crouched down with his back leaning against the building. They automatically ran towards him, bewilderment in their eyes.

"For a second there I actually thought you were a dead man." Sonic joked half-heartily. Shadow's chuckle quickly turned into a chronic cough. In closer inspection, the black hedgehog's whole right side of his body took most of the damage.

"It was just as I thought," he struggled to say with a strained voice, "it was a trap... But," he looked up at the males with his right eye closed and then moved his battered right arm to revealing a green substance labeled 'Amy'. They chuckled in relief as the yellow fox helped the Ultimate Life-form back on his feet, but just then his ruby eye wondered to the pink female, a puzzled expression appeared on his face. He handed Tails the prototype and limped towards the pink female in the rival's arms.

"Rose?..."

"What?" She didn't hide her stubborn attitude and harsh tone.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You're crying..." Everyone was surprised by the male's sudden statement, and all eyes were on the pink female, she forcefully freed her hands from the blue hero's grip.

"What? No I'm n-" she stopped her sentence when she realized streams of tears flowing down her cheeks. She blushed bright red and desperately tried wiping them off with her palms, but they just kept on falling. To her surprise, big ash covered hands gentle grabbed hers before she tore her eyes out. When she looked up those bloody red eyes were soft and gentle, filled with concern for her. She froze when he wiped one of the tears away.

"I'm fine." He gently remarked, and amazingly that small statement put a halt on the river of tears. It was as if something inside her calmed down and she unconsciously smiled at him. He returned the smile and then limped away as if nothing happened. The whole time the dumbfounded blue hedgehog stood there with everything happening right under his nose, literally, trying hard not to start a fight with Shadow. He still denied his feelings toward the pink female that lay blushing in his arms, but he couldn't help but want the Ultimate Life-form to stay away from her.

Tails looked back at his mansion, now nothing more than ash and rubble. He exhaled away any feelings of guilt or sorrow and caught up to the red striped hedgehog. "So what now?" The black hedgehog didn't make eye contact with the still tramitized fox as he responded.

"If the Doctor figured out your address and managed to get past your security, then there's no doubt that he has information on Rose's address, or anyone else regarding Sonic." The Blue Blur caught up with the two males when he heard his name.

"Then where else will we go?" Sonic asked. Shadow sighed in irritation.

"We'll be staying at my house..." Both of the males stopped in their tracks, trying to process the sudden statement. Shadow hated the idea, but it was the only temporary solution he could think of...


End file.
